Improvement in wood pavements



tltttrt ($131125 i stent Gemine,

ANDY M. ADAMS,I OF l'TASHINGr'ION,` DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

Leiters Patent N 106,447, dated August 16, 1,870.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame.

ing had to the accompanying drawing and to the fig'- ures and lettersmarked thereon, in whichy y Figure l represents a side view oftheblocks, placed with their bevels together, showing the manner inwhich they are cut from the timber;.

Figure 2 represents a side View of the blocks placed in position;.tfigure represents a perspective view of a single block; and

Figure 4 represents a plan or top View ofthe blocks as laid. y

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

I cut my blocks as follows: I take. a piece of lumber six inches thick,by ten and 'a half wide, and c ntit into blocks of six inches in length,as represented bylig. l.'

1 eut these blocks diagonally, as at A, so as to form two blocks ofdiagonal fncings, as shown in gs. 2 and 3. I

The lower portion of: these diagonal' facings I cut away, so as' to forma plane or vertical surface at that point, as shown at a., and I-cut anacute angular groove across the backs of the blocks, as shown at b.

`The blocks, when thus cnt, are sixiuches square at the base, and six byfour at the. top.

rllhe manuel' in which@ construct my pavement is as follows:

Having leveled the bed'ofV the road, and laid a suitable foundation ot'concrete and well-tarred flooring, I lay my blocks upon this iiooring,placing them in rows, running with the line of the street, in suchmanner that the vertical back of one block willface the. diagonal frontof the oneibehind it, as shown in lig',l 2, soV as to form, between thefront and back ot' every two' blocks, a pit, the upper portion of whichforms an acute angle, wlnle its lower portion, or base, vforms a rightangle, as seen at B, f ig. 2. v

Everyzalternate row ofthe blocks should be laidfin such manner as to boxup both ends of .each-and every one of the angular pits, as showniinfig. 4.

The pits B aretilledwlth a suitable cement or concrete, well Vrammeddown, so as to fill np the entire pit with a solid mass of the same, andthe whole pavenient covered with a coating of pitch, coal-tar', or anyother suitable material.

The lower end of the beveled face of each block is made vertical, tobrace the blocks together, and prevent theur from mounting each other,and to prevent the concrete. in the pits B being forced down under theblocks.

The peculiar format-ion of these pits forms the concrete therein into somany linked wedges, which wedge, glue, and lock the blocks together, andthereby form an almost solid keyed arch, ot' great strength anddurability. r i

vThe peculiar manner in which these angular pits are boxed up prevents'their concret-e filling from spreading; and it will be noticed that, bythis arrangev ment ot' the blocks, each one of them isV wedged and boundin by tour dierent wedges of concrete, and

4eacli wedge ot' concrete by four different blocks, so

that the more weight or pressure there is applied to the pavement, themore solid and compact it becomes, every shrinkagecof the blocks\ beingsupplied by. a downward movement of' the filling. The etfectvof travelover this pavement is to constantly produce this downward movement of'the concretewedges, thereby wedging the pavement tighter and tighterwith each days use.

The pavement thus formed is impervious toV water,

and forms an excellent and sure 'foothold for horses.

'Whatl claim as my invent-ion, and desire t0 secure by Letters Patent,is- 4 A pavement, consist-ing ot' blocks provided with the diagonalfacngs A, yertical fronts a, and angular grooves b cnt in the verticalside, as shown7 arranged in succession, so as to form the tlukedwedge-shaped' cement-pits B, inthe manner au l for purpose herein setforth and described. l

In testimony that I claim the foregoiugimproved mode of constructingwooden pavements, I havehereunto set my hand this 25th day of J nly,1870.

ANDY ADAMS.

Witnesses:

GEOQW. MCGLLL, JOHN W. MGGLLL.

